Shh
by eMiSoN2304
Summary: Autumn Hastings was known for being the Hastings child with the lowest IQ, but what happens when a text threatens to reveal EVERYTHING? Will her world come crashing down or will she manage to keep the texter at bay?
1. Chapter 1

**Full Name: Autumn Scarlett Hastings**

 **Gender: Female**

 **Birthday: 17th of October 1995**

 **Hair colour: Blonde**

 **Eye colour: Grey**

 **Family: Peter Hastings (father), Jessica DiLaurentis (mother), Jason DiLaurentis (brother), Melissa Hastings (half-sister), Spencer Hastings (half-sister), Alison DiLaurentis (half-sister)**

 **Friends: Noel Kahn, Mona Vanderwaal, Hanna Marin, Sean Ackard, Cece Drake, Alison DiLaurentis and Darren Wilden**

 **Enemies: Lucas Grottesman, Paige McCullers, Garrett Renolds, Ian Thomas, Toby Cavanaugh and Jenna Marshall**

 **Talents: Acting and piano**

"Sorry I'm so late, Melissa has this thing or something... Anyways Dad was like being super mean." Autumn whined as she strolled up to Hanna and Mona. "What thing?" Mona asked raising an eyebrow. "Ugh I don't know! Something about doctors or something. I hope I don't have to have a check-up... Doctor's totally suck, like they always ask super personal questions. Like hello, I'm fine stop asking me." Autumn replied rolling her eyes.

Hanna laughed. "Well you up for some Retail Therapy?" She asked. "What? I hate animals! I don't want to have a tail too. God Hanna, don't try and trick me into that stuff. I'm not stupid, you know." Autumn huffed crossing her arms.

Mona and Hanna shared an exasperated look. Autumn was sweet but she was also the dumbest person either of them had met. It was a wonder that she survived in the Hastings family as long as she did. "Shopping, Autumn. She meant shopping." Mona snapped annoyed. "Oh. Yeah totes. I need a new bag for Melissa's doctor thing or whatever." Autumn smiled cheerfully.

"Great. Meet you at the front?" Hanna asked as she looked over at Autumn's older sister, Spencer. "Kay. See ya." Autumn smiled blowing a kiss at Mona and Hanna before skipping away.

"Nice glasses." Mona complimented. "Nice scarf." Hanna replied. "Can we get a Cinnabon on the way out?" Autumn asked twirling a piece of her blonde hair. "Ew, no." Mona replied wrinkling her nose. "Why not?" Whined Autumn with a pout.

Hanna sighed, Autumn was really annoying at the best of times. "Because a security guard might catch us." She whispered. "Catch us doing what?" Autumn giggled confused.

"Ma'am." The loud voice of a security guard suddenly said. The girls all turned around to face him. "Hi!" Autumn said brightly with a cheery wave. "Shut up Autumn." Mona hissed as the man walked closer. "You left your bag." He said to Hanna passing her the bag. "Thanks." Hanna smiled back. "Enjoy you day, ladies." He replied before walking away.

"I totally thought you'd gotten caught." Mona laughed nervously. "Me too." Hanna replied. "I'm hungry! I want an ice cream." Autumn whined stomping her foot like a little kid. "We'll get some on the way back." Mona sighed not wanting Autumn to make a scene. Honestly she was such a child.

As the three girls waited in the ice cream line, Autumn couldn't help but let her eyes wonder. There were happy children playing with their parents and the air was filled with smiles and laughs and everything sweet. Autumn always loved days like this. Days where everything was perfect and nothing could bring her down (not even the possibility of having to see the stupid Dr. McMeaniepants, or whatever his name was anyway).

But then her smile faded as she saw a little blonde girl sitting all by herself in the sandpit. Briefly, Autumn wondered where her mommy and daddy were. But before she could think anymore about it she felt a sharp jab to her side.

"Autumn!" Hanna said as she gestured to the ice cream man. "What were we doing again?" Autumn frowned confused. Mona rolled her eyes. "I thought you wanted ice cream." The brunette muttered. "Oh yeah! I'll have a scoop of chocolate chip please." She smiled.

Then her grey eyes fell back onto the lonely little blonde girl. "And one more please." Autumn added with a soft smile making Mona raise an eyebrow. "Are you pigging out or something?" Mona snorted.

"No." Autumn replied as she took the two cones and walked in direction of the little blonde girl. Hanna and Mona shared a confused look. For someone with such low intelligence, Autumn was confusing as hell.

When Autumn finally got to her destination Hanna and Mona shared another confused look. "Hello there, sweetie." Autumn said sweetly as she sat down next to her in the sandpit.

The girl looked a little startled. "Ice cream?" Autumn added holding out a cone for the girl to take. With a shy smile, the girl took it from her hand giving it an experimental lick. "Why are you being so nice to me?" The little girl asked after a moment. "You looked like you needed a friend." Replied Autumn simply as she took the little girl's hand.

In return the girl looked down. "Where's your mommy and daddy?" Autumn asked changing the subject as she sensed the girl's discomfort. "They're at work. Nana's on that bench there." She replied pointing to a park bench.

"Really? What does your mommy and daddy do?" Autumn smiled. The girl squirmed. "You're very pretty. I bet you have lots and lots of friends." She whispered changing the subject.

"Thank you... But do you wanna know a secret?" Autumn asked. Eagerly, the girl nodded. "I used to sit on my own in sandpits too." Whispered Autumn just loud enough for the girl and Hanna and Mona (who were a few feet away) to hear. "Really?" The girl asked in awe. "Mmhm. But then I started talking to the other kids. You'd be really surprised how nice they are." Autumn said.

The girl smiled at her. "You really think they'd like me?" She asked hopefully. "They'll love you, sweetie." Autumn smiled squeezing the girl's shoulder encouragingly. Then the little girl got up running over to a group of little girls.

"I didn't know you were so good with kids." Hanna said still a little surprised by it all. "Yeah. I babysit all the time. It's like, one of my favourite things the whole entire world ever." Autumn smiled brightly as she stood up brushing the sand off her. "Babysitting better be after shopping." Mona laughed. Autumn giggled. "Duh!" Then Hanna frowned remembering what Autumn had whispered.

"Was what you said to that girl true?" Mona asked clearly having the same thought as Hanna.

"Yep. I kinda didn't like talking back then. Like ever." She shrugged. "Mmm, this ice cream's amazing! We should come here more often." Autumn smiled changing the subject swiftly.


	2. Chapter 2

"Autumn! Get up, it's time for school!" Spencer said banging on her younger sister's pink door annoyed. "Come on, Autumn." She sighed opening the door and stepping into Autumn pink, fluffy room (it gave Spencer a migraine so she tried to find any excuse to stay out of Autumn's room) but to her surprise Autumn lay lazily on her bed flipping through the latest Vogue magazine, already dressed. "Hey Spence. What's up?" The blonde asked casually.

Spencer rolled her eyes. "It's time for school." She said simply before walking back downstairs for breakfast. With a chuckle Autumn rolled out of bed to check how she looked in the mirror. She always loved playing that trick on Spencer or Melissa or her parents. But only occasionally, they were way too smart to fall for it all the time, like Yale smart.

Just as she was about to walk out the door Autumn's phone rang so she picked it up as she walked down the stairs. "Hello?" Autumn asked brightly. "Hey, Autumn." Noel replied. "Noel! How are you? We haven't talked in like forever!" Squealed Autumn excitedly. She could see Spencer roll her eyes but Autumn just ignored her and picked up her Poptart. Spence was probably just jealous, Melissa told Autumn that Spencer was always jealous of Melissa's grades/boyfriends and Autumn's friends/amazing fashion sense.

"I'm good. Just been counting down the hours until I could see you." Teased Noel. Autumn giggled. "Well, I've missed your sexy voice." She joked back. At this comment Spencer pretended to be sick so Autumn just stuck her tongue out at her. "Same to you, Hastings." Noel replied easily. "I'm just Hastings now? How very dare you, Kahn." Retorted Autumn feigning shock.

Noel laughed on the other line. "How about I make it up to you? I'm right near your house, I could drive you to school." He replied. "Yay! You're the bestest Noel." Autumn replied excitedly. "I try." Replied Noel hanging up the phone. "Noel's driving me to school." Autumn told Spencer happily. "Thank god for that." Spencer muttered walking out the door and just then Noel pulled up with his signature smirk. "You ready, princess?" Noel asked.

"Why thank you, handsome." Autumn smiled walking over. "How are you two not dating yet?" Spencer snorted. "Ew! Why would you even think that?" Asked Autumn confused. In return Spencer just shook her head muttering something like "idiots" under her breath.

But Autumn didn't pay attention, getting in the back of Noel's car.

"We just need to pick up Sean." Noel said as he started driving. "Sure." Smiled Autumn.

 _Time skip_

"So... Has Hanna talked about me?" Sean asked on the way making Noel rolled his eyes. "Dude you're so whipped." Sniggered Noel. "Whatever. Autumn?" He asked hopefully. "All the time. She keeps like talking about how hot you are and I mean, I told her to just give you an ice cube or ice cream or something but whatevs." Autumn shrugged as she danced along to 'Bringing Sexy Back by Justin Timberlake'.

Then Autumn giggled. "She keeps talking about wanting to lose something called a 'virginity'. I told her to return it to whatever store she got it from, but Hanna and Mona said that she couldn't return it. And I was all like, uh why? Like did she break it or something? But Mona just told me to shut up. So whatever." Autumn said brightly.

Sean's eyes widened and Noel laughed. "She said that?" Sean asked. "Yeah. Why? Do you know a store that would get her a refund or something?" Asked Autumn curiously. "Trust me, she doesn't want to return it." Said Noel with a smirk as he glanced at Sean. They pulled up to Rosewood High to see Ben and Emily making out in Ben's car. There were boys wolf-whistling and Noel joined in until Hanna came over telling them to get away.

"Thanks." Emily said to Hanna. "You're welcome." Hanna replied with a smile. "Hey Han, hey Em." Autumn smiled skipping over to the pair. Ben had gone off with one of his friends and Noel, Sean and Mona were talking.

Emily smiled kindly at her, "Hey Autumn."

"Oh by the way, I told Sean that you were looking for a store to return your virginity." Autumn said brightly. "What?" Hanna asked confused. "You know, because you were talking about about losing your virginity." Explained Autumn. "You told him that?" Asked Hanna annoyed. "Yeah. Why?" Autumn replied. But Hanna just walked off muttering under her breath.

Autumn just shrugged. Then a girl about the age of Emily walked over. "Hey." she said. "Hey." Emily replied. "Hey." Smiled Autumn waving. Emily chuckled. "This is Autumn Hastings. One of the girls I was telling you about." She said. "The one who brought condoms to your 10th Birthday Party as balloons?" The girl asked. "Oh yeah, those balloons were awesome! I didn't even know dad used balloons." Giggled Autumn.

"Right. Maya St. Germain, nice to meet you." The girl introduced herself. "Oh my god! Really? Can you like give me an autograph or something? I mean Mom always told me I would never meet a Saint but she must've been like super duper wrong!" Autumn squealed jumping up and down excitedly.

Maya chuckled. "Sure, what do you want me to sign?" She asked sharing an amused look with Emily. For a second, Autumn frowned looking through her handbag then she pulled out a Maths textbook and opened it handing Maya her lipstick. With a smile, Maya signed Autumn's textbook right under a phone number. "Thanks. You're like the bestest!" Smiled Autumn pulling her into a hug before rushing away after Mona and Hanna.

"Is she always like that?" Asked Maya turning to Emily. "Uh, yeah. Pretty much." Emily replied.

 _Time skip_

Autumn skipped to the library luckily her first lesson was a free period. So she walked around the library confused for a while before she saw a magazine, Autumn picked it up with a smile. then just as she was flipping through the pages happily her phone buzzed. "A text!" Autumn whispered to herself happily.

 _Unknown Number:_ _I spy with my little eye, a slut filled with secrets and lies. Wouldn't everyone love to hear about Imogen? But don't worry no one will know about your dirty little secrets if you keep your pretty little mouth SHUT and do as I say. -A_

Her heart sank. How did they know? No one was supposed to know. Not even her parents, not Spencer, not Melissa, not her friends, not anyone. Who was this "A" person anyway? Then Autumn's phone buzzed again making her heart pound in fear.

 _Melissa: How are you? I'm coming back tomorrow._

At the text Autumn let out a sigh of relief.

 _Autumn: Im good cant wait to see u sis :)_


	3. Chapter 3

Autumn sat on her bed flipping through a magazine to try and forget about the text. That stupid text. Maybe it was just a practical joke? Maybe they didn't really know everything. Then her phone buzzed beside her. Lazily she picked up and turned it on.

 _Unknown Number: Well, well, well turns out the Queen of Innocence opened her legs long ago. I wonder what everyone would think if they knew just what a bad girl you've been... They won't if you follow in Spencer's footsteps. You know just how to break your parents' hearts don't you? -A_

Autumn's breath caught in her throat. No. They definitely knew.

Now what was she supposed to do? Did they just want Autumn to start taking pills? For a moment, Autumn hesitated before calling Melissa's doctor. "Hello my name is Imogen Valentine, I was just wondering if I could book an appointment for tomorrow." Said Autumn in a clear business-like voice that her mother would've been proud of. "Of course. We have a slot for 10:30, does that suit you?" The receptionist replied.

"Yeah. That sounds good." Autumn smiled. "Great. We'll see you then Miss. Valentine." She replied. "Perfect, see you then." Then Autumn ended the call her heart beating wildly in her chest.

"Autumn, time to go!" Her dad called up. "Coming!" Yelled Autumn running down the stairs.

 _Time skip_

"Could I have a vodka soda?" Spencer asked sliding in next to Wren. The waiter gave her a bewildered look. "She's joking." Peter Hastings said glaring at Spencer. "Well, I'll actually have a vodka soda." Wren chuckled. "Anything else?" The waiter asked.

Melissa looked over the drinks menu again. "Want anything, Autumn?" She asked her youngest sister. But the blonde seemed lost in her thoughts, staring at the table. "Autumn?" Melissa repeated a little annoyed now. Autumn jumped surprised. "What?" She asked dazed. "Drinks. Do you want one?" Spencer asked from the other side of Wren. "Oh. I'll have a cherry soda, I guess." Autumn muttered looking back down at the table.

"Are you okay? You seem less enthusiastic than earlier." Wren frowned concerned. "Yeah, I'm fine." Replied Autumn with a small smile. "Okay... Well anyway let's play High, Low." Said Melissa moving on from Autumn's weird mood quickly.

The whole dinner Autumn spent looking at the table saying as few words as possible. Luckily everyone seemed distracted with other things so they didn't notice too much.

 _Time skip_

Later Autumn sat in the kitchen playing with her phone waiting for the inevitable taunting "A" text. "You want to tell me what's wrong?" Asked Wren. "What?" Autumn replied confused. "You hardly said a sentence at dinner." Wren said sitting down next to her. "Oh, I'm sorry. I'm just a little tired." Replied Autumn. "Tired? Did you have a late night?" Wren asked. Autumn shook her head. Of course he'd think that, she's a Hastings.

"Yeah." Autumn lied. "Well, I suggest coffee." Wren smiled handing her a cup. "Thank you." Muttered Autumn sipping the brown liquid. "I'm probably going to turn in. See you tomorrow or something." She added climbing up the stairs. When she got into her room, Autumn pulled her laptop onto her bed searching up, 'symptoms for ADHD'.

Autumn looked through different websites trying to find the best way to trick a doctor into diagnosing her with the mental illness.

 _Time skip_

The next day at 8:30 Autumn went downstairs picking her bag up from the counter. "Are you going somewhere?" Melissa asked raising an eyebrow. "I'm going to the Mall, with Hanna and Mona." Autumn lied easily. "Do you want me to drive you?" Spencer asked standing up. "No! Th-that's fine. We're trying out a new Mall outside of Rosewood. I wouldn't want to make you do that." Smiled Autumn.

Her sisters seemed satisfied with the lie going back to what they were eating.

So Autumn walked out the door towards the bus station. "Autumn?" Hanna asked. "Hey guys." Replied Autumn. "Where are you going? I thought we were going to the Mall today." Mona said crossing her arms. "Oh yeah. I'd love to but Dad's making me see stupid Dr. McMeaniepants. Sucks right?" Pouted Autumn. "Oh yeah. See you another time?" Asked Hanna pulling Mona away and it seemed like she was still mad about the Sean thing.

But Autumn couldn't think about that now. "Kay. Bye." She said walking towards the bus station.

 _Time skip_

With a sigh Autumn looked at the bottle in her hands. She can't believe she really pulled it off. Then her phone buzzed making Autumn flinch and looking at the text and it was just who she expected. Great.

 _Unknown Number: You know what to do, slut. -A_

This "A" person was really starting to get on her nerves. But she tipped two into her hand anyway and then into her mouth. It felt weird, a mix of guilt and unwavering focus, a restless energy. As the bus moved forward Autumn wondered if this is what Spencer had felt like. If this was why she did this. This feeling.

In almost no time at all, Autumn was back in Rosewood so she walked back to her house. When out of nowhere she was suddenly on the ground someone else on top of her. "I'm really sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going." Aria apologised pushing herself up and holding her hand out for Autumn. "I don't mind. I'm totally fine." Autumn smiled as she took Aria's hand. "Autumn?" Aria asked surprised.

"Uh yeah and you owe me a coffee. We haven't talked in like... a million years." Giggled Autumn happily. "I'll definitely take you up on that." Aria smiled back. Autumn gave her a confused look, "Are you going to lift me up? I mean, cuz I think you might be kinda short for that." Autumn replied.

Then she giggled at the image of Aria lifting her up. "No I mean... Nevermind. I can't wait. How about next Friday?" Suggested Aria. "Sure. Sounds good." Autumn replied with a beam.

"See you then." Agreed Aria walking away.


	4. Chapter 4

The next day Autumn woke up at 5:00 am to an obnoxious loud ringing sound. With a frown she turned over hitting the snooze button before sitting up in her bed confused. _Rise and shine bitch. Time for your new DiLaurentis makeover. Got what it takes or will you go down in history as nothing more than a dumb bitch? -A_

Then Autumn looked at the foot of her bed and there was a beautiful dress with elegant high heels and a red coat. So Autumn sighed to herself getting changed.

When she'd gotten changed, Autumn looked at herself in the mirror. But she realised there was her bottle of pills on the dresser with a post-it note that read: _Eat up bitch, I own you now. If you step out of line then everyone will know about your Valentine. -A._

 _Time skip_

As Autumn walked into school, a girl accidently bumped into her. "Watch where you're going, bitch." Autumn snapped in her most Alison DiLaurentis sounding voice. "Uh sorry it was an accident." She muttered.

So Autumn sniggered. "I bet that's what the Doctor told your parents." She retorted (Autumn had heard Ali say something along those lines before).

Annoyed the girl just walked off with tears in her eyes so Autumn laughed. "What the hell was that?" Hanna asked raising an eyebrow in confusion. "What the hell was what, Hefty?" Autumn asked crossing her arms. "Seriously? You're such a bitch." Huffed Hanna pushing past her.

"Takes one to know one. You may have lost all that fat, but you're still the same old Hefty Hanna. And newsflash, your boyfriend doesn't want to sleep with you so why don't you get your desperate ass out of here and go sit on the couch with a Chunky Monkey, while your pathetic Mom wipes your tears." Snapped Autumn taking all her aggression out on Hanna.

It felt good but the second all those words left her mouth, Autumn felt regret setting it. Hanna turned around looking a mixture of shocked, hurt, angry, sad and disappointed. "I don't know what's happened to you but you should look in the mirror sometime. Because right now, all you'd see was a rude, horrible bitch." Said Hanna before walking away.

"What are you freaks staring at? Don't you have something better to do?" Hissed Autumn to everyone staring. They all turned around going back to what they were doing and muttering rumours about Autumn.

Spencer turned to Emily and Aria. "I think my sister's been possessed by Alison DiLaurentis." She muttered. "Maybe I should go talk to Autumn. See what's going with her." Emily suggested. "If you want but I wouldn't if I were you." Aria shrugged. "Yeah she's like a whirlwind of retorts and insults." Spencer agreed.

"Well I'm going to at least try." Replied Emily walking over to Autumn.

But before she could get there, Ben came out of nowhere. "Hey, Emily." He said wrapping his arm around Emily. "Oh... Um, hey." Emily said awkwardly.

 _Time skip_

When lunch rolled around Autumn walked out of school, planning to get a train to Philly. "Autumn!" A familar voice yelled. "What do you want Aria?" Autumn asked crossing her arms.

Aria walked over to her looking annoyed. "I want to know what's going on. Why are you acting like this?" She asked.

"It's complicated." Replied Autumn emotionlessly. "Really? I'm starting to think it's really simple actually. I think you just want attention, and in your messed up mind this is the best way to get it. Well it's not, no one cares about you Autumn. All you're ever going to be is Spencer and Melissa's dumb little sister." Yelled Aria.

At the words, Autumn felt her eyes water. "It's better than being the dead girl's best friend." Autumn snapped bumping Aria's shoulder as she walked past her.

Then suddenly a familar red Lamborghini pulled up beside her. "Get in, Autumn!" Justin yelled. "No! Stay away from me." Growled the blonde. "I'm not letting anything come between us. I love you." Begged Justin.

"I don't care! There's already a restraining order with your name all over it. So you better stay away from me and my family." Autumn replied annoyed.

At that Justin got out the car and ran over to Autumn who backed away. "Don't test me Justin. I could tell your father exactly what you did. You won't get away with it." Snapped Autumn. "Fine! But just know, this isn't over, slut." Huffed Justin as he got back in his car peeling away.

Relieved Autumn took shuddering deep breaths. "What was that about?" Asked Aria making Autumn jump in surprise. "I told you, it's complicated." Autumn sighed before walking away as quickly as she could.

 _Time skip_

"Hey, what happened?" Emily asked Aria. "I went to go talk to Autumn. Then this guy called Justin pulled up in the expensive car declared his love and then Autumn threatened to tell his dad something and have a restraining order filed against him." Aria summarised. "What did he do?" Hanna asked curiously.

Aria shrugged, "Called Autumn a slut then drove away."

"That's weird... When we were younger, Autumn met this rich kid at summer camp called Justin. They'd always disappear off for a few days, she never told us where they went or what they did. But her thearpist said there was something very toxic between those two." Revealed Spencer.

Hanna gave her a surprised look. "Autumn has a thearpist?" Asked Emily. "Yeah. She didn't used to like talking to the other kids. Autumn would just sit in a cardboard box talking to herself. One time Autumn even wrecked her own room she was so upset. That's when Mom called a thearpist and mental health expert to see Autumn." Explained Spencer.

"What did they say?" Hanna asked curiously. "Apparently it was caused by a traumatic experience. Everyone was trying to find out what it was but Autumn's suprisingly secretive." Spencer replied.


	5. Chapter 5

**Friday 11:30 PM, New York City**

Autumn's whole body shook as she rushed out the small bar. She ran up to the first person she saw. Honestly, all she wanted to do is get back to her nice warm bed and forget about this. "P-please, can I borrow your phone?" Autumn begged the young stranger. "Of course." He nodded handing her his cell phone with a concerned look.

Just as Autumn's shaking hands started to dial a familiar number a loud, terrifying voice boomed, "Get back here Hastings!" Scared, Autumn dropped the stranger's phone running off as quickly as she could.

Soon she found herself running down a dark alleyway and behind her Autumn heard a loud gunshot making her turn around startled. "I'll find you Autumn Hastings!" A pained voice yelled. So Autumn turned back around and continued running in case he was insane enough to actually follow her.

Finally Autumn made it to a pay phone, getting 5 dollars out of the pocket of her now ruined jeans. Quickly, she dialled a number and after two or three rings they picked up.

"Hello?" Spencer answered. "I need your help. Please Spencer, I'm in over my head... I-I thought I had everything under control b-but... Just please come." Sobbed Autumn into the phone. "Autumn? Where are you? We've been looking for you everywhere." Replied Spencer surprised.

Autumn let out a shaky breath trying to pull herself together. "I'm in New York... God, what have I done? This wasn't supposed to happen." She sniffed her voice cracking a little. "We're on our way."

 **Saturday 1:30 AM, Rosewood- The Hastings' Household**

Silently, Autumn stared at the food placed in front of her. Toad in the hole. "Don't you want to eat something?" Melissa asked worried. "It's all my fault." Whispered Autumn to herself. "What is?" Tanner asked trying to get some answers out of the blonde.

Autumn Hastings had been reported missing over a week ago and obviously after Alison DiLaurentis' murder everyone feared the worst. But here she was, barefoot with mascara running down her face, her blonde hair messed up, a bloody nose, a black eye and covered in mud/blood. So far, these had been the first words Autumn had uttered since the phone call to her sister and she sure as hell wasn't answering any of the Rosewood P.D.'s or her family's questions.

Instead of answering Autumn stabbed at her food. "Autumn, please just eat something. We've been worried about you." Veronica said pushing the plate closer to Autumn. Suddenly Autumn pushed the plate over the counter making a mess of glass and gravy on the floor.

"I'll get the mop." Spencer muttered standing up. She couldn't bear to see Autumn like this anymore. Obviously something horrible happened and it seemed like maybe something in Autumn snapped.

 **Saturday 10:30 AM, Rosewood- The Hastings' Household**

Autumn sat in her bed staring at a family photo. It was from about five years ago and the five of them were smiling widely. Too widely. Then suddenly she threw it against the wall and the talking from downstairs went quiet and there were footsteps rushing up. "Autumn what happened?" Hanna frowned confused. She didn't answer instead, Autumn stood up walked over to the smashed picture frame and picked the unharmed photograph up.

For a moment, Autumn just stared at it before ripping it up. "What was that for?" Spencer asked a little hurt. In reply, Autumn just smiled. Then suddenly out of nowhere, Autumn hugged Spencer tightly. So hesitantly Spencer hugged her back.

"Do you hate me, too?" Whispered Autumn. "No. Autumn you're my sister, I love you." Spencer replied sincerely as she pulled away looking Autumn in the eye.

Autumn just sighed and pulled her hands away from Spencer then walked over to her window. "Please just tell us... What happened in New York?" Asked Hanna. "You ask too many questions. Bad things happen to curious people." Replied Autumn not looking away from her window. "Well, you can't just disappear and not explain yourself. Everyone was worried, we thought you died." Said Spencer crossing her arms.

"Yes, I can. I've kept secrets my whole life. What makes you so sure I can't keep this one?" Snapped Autumn turning around to face Spencer and Hanna. "Because everyone's actually paying attention for once. They're all trying to figure out what happened to you." Hanna replied.

At the reply, Autumn just laughed. "They'll get tired soon. Everyone does and I'll be left here, with all my secrets still untold." She said with a bittersweet smile on her face.

"No, not this time. This time we will find out, Autumn." Spencer replied determined. "Then I suppose you'll be buying flowers for my funeral. I wonder what it'll say on gravestone..." Replied Autumn as she looked at herself in her mirror.

 _Flashback- Summer of 2008:_

 _"What do you think? How does this look?" Autumn asked Ali who was lounging on her bed reading a magazine. Alison looked up, "You might not want to wear that in front of Em." She snorted. "Why not?" Giggled Autumn confused. "Seriously? Didn't you see Emily checking us out?" Ali asked Autumn raising an eyebrow. "She was checking us out? I thought she just liked our outfits." Replied Autumn twirling her blonde hair around her finger as she lay down next to Alison._

 _The comment made Ali laugh. "What like all the boys on the lacrosse team were?" Teased Alison with a smile. "Yeah. They really seem to like our outfits, like all the time." Agreed Autumn with a smile. "Oh sweetie..." Ali said shaking her head at Autumn._

 _Then there was a knock on Autumn's door. "Come in." Alison said for Autumn. The door opened to Justin Jameson with a bouquet of flowers in his hand making Autumn's eyes widen in surprise. Crap. "Hey." He said with a grin on his face. "Hey Justin. What are you doing here?" Autumn asked as brightly as she could muster. "Uh... I just wanted to see how you were." Justin replied with a smile. "I'm good, doing better without you." Replied Autumn unable to keep the venom from her voice._

 _"Yeah. Well, I was thinking... Maybe we could try again." Said Justin looking down at the flowers in his hand. "Sorry, no can do. See you were just walking in on me and my girlfriend about to totally do it. By the way, she's better in bed then you ever were." Shrugged Autumn._

 _When Autumn said that, Justin looked at her in shock. "No. This can't be happening." Hissed Justin glaring at her. "It really is. But thanks for the flowers." Replied Autumn standing up and taking the flowers from Justin. "Come on baby, don't do this. We can work it out." Begged Justin. "I'm the only one who gets to call her that. So why don't you turn around and get out of here before I make you." Alison said suddenly behind Autumn._

 _"Oh, what are you gonna do? Paint my nails until they fall off? Braid my hair?" Justin snorted crossing his arms. In return Alison smirked then took hold of Autumn's face and pressed their lips together. The action made Autumn gasp quietly in surprise but they heard the door slam so Ali pulled away._

 _Then she grinned at Autumn. "I'm your girlfriend now?" She sniggered. "Sorry, couldn't think of anything else." Autumn giggled. "It's fine. I'm happy to help, he seemed like a total creep." Alison replied._

 _"Ugh, he is. Once I found him taking pictures of me in my sleep." Replied Autumn wrinkling her nose. "No way." Ali laughed. "Way! He's such a weirdo." Giggled Autumn._


End file.
